What if Dream a Little Dream of Me
by Katy M VT
Summary: What if this episode took place pre-series Stanford era and it was Sam instead of Bobby.  Chapter 5 of 5 up
1. Coma

What if this episode took place pre-series?

Jessica smiled in the hot water in the shower. Sam usually beat her up in the morning, but this morning he had seemed dead to the world, so she got the shower first for once. She quickly finished up, though, wanting to leave at least a little hot water for Sam. She toweled off and dressed

"Sam, aren't you getting up?" Jessica asked as she came out of the bathroom. She and Sam both had early classes this morning and he really should be up by now.

She got no response. "SAM!"

Still nothing. She walked over to him and shook him. He didn't move. "SAM!" she yelled again, getting desperate. She willed herself to calm down. She was pre-med after all. She checked his pulse. It was a little fast, especially for a sleeping person, but he was definitely alive. She grabbed the phone and dialed 911.

"My boyfriend won't wake up," she said.

The operator confirmed her address from the caller ID, and then asked, "How old is he?"

"22."

"Has this ever happened before?"

"No, not in the last year, anyway."

"Has it happened before then?"

"I don't know. I've only lived with him for a year," Jessica said, straining to listen for the sirens.

"Has he been drinking?"

Jess gave a little laugh. "During the school week? Not Sam. No way." That's when she heard the sirens. "The ambulance is here," she said as she hung up the phone and ran to let the EMTs in.

SSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS

Jessica paced back and forth nervously in the waiting room. "Jessica, why don't you sit down?" Rebecca asked gently.

"I can't."

"Can I get you anything?" Zack asked. He felt like he should be doing something, not just sitting here, but Jessica just shook her head no.

The doctor walked in. "Is anyone here a family member of Sam Winchester?"

"I'm his girlfriend. We live together," Jessica said.

"I'm really only supposed to talk to family," the doctor said. "Does he have any?"

"He has a father and a brother, but I don't know where they are."

"OK, well here's what I can tell you. I don't know much anyway. I've run every test I can think of and as far as I can tell, he just went to sleep and didn't wake up," the doctor said.

"Is he going to be OK?" Jessica asked unable to stop herself from crying.

"I really don't know. Without knowing what's wrong, I can't even hazard a guess at a prognosis or a treatment," the doctor said. "I do think if you can find his family, though, you should. Sooner rather than later. I'm sorry," the doctor said and left. He hadn't meant to seem so cold, but those kids were all so young and he had no answers for them. Sometimes he hated his job.

"Zack, you just asked if you could do something, right?" Jess asked. She wasn't sure what he had said, but she thought it was something like that.

"Yeah, anything," Zack said, jumping up.

"I want to go sit with Sam. Can you go to our place and find Sam's cell phone? See if there's anything on there for his dad or his brother. His brother's name is Dean," Jessica requested as she fished her key out of her pocket to give to Zack.

"Yeah. I didn't even know Sam had a brother," Zack said. He was Sam's best friend. It seemed a little weird to know that he had a brother he didn't know about.

"He doesn't talk about his family much," Jess murmured as she rushed to be with Sam.

"I'll stay here in case she needs anything else," Becca said to Zack and hugged him.

"What was that for?" he asked. Ever since his little sister had started at Stanford, she had been distant. Zack figured it was because she was sick of being in his shadow all the time. He had actually been surprised that she had chosen to attend the same school as him.

"This just makes you realize you never know when it's going to be the last time you see somebody," Becca answered.

"Don't talk like that. Especially around Jessica. Sam's going to be fine," Zack said.

"I hope so," Becca said. "You'd better get going."

Zack headed out.

SSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS

Jessica walked into Sam's room. She stopped in the doorway a minute and just watched him. He looked like he could wake up any minute. She hoped he would.

She walked over to him and sat down in a chair next to his bed. She picked up his hand to hold it. She didn't know what to say, so she decided to just sit there with him.

SSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS

"I can't believe we actually had a hunt in Las Vegas," Dean said as he and his father entered their hotel room. "Now that it's done, how about we spend the night in the casinos winning a million dollars?" he asked with a grin.

John was about to answer when his cell phone rang. He pulled it out and looked at the display. "I don't believe it," he said.

"Who is it?" Dean asked.

"Sam." It had been almost four years since Sam had left. Sam hadn't called once. Of course he hadn't called him either. Sam had stuck around for a few months after graduation and hadn't started college until the spring semester. That meant that he would be in his last semester now. John wondered if he wanted back in. If he did, John would forget what he said about not coming back and welcome him with open arms.

"Hello?" he answered the phone.

"Is this Sam's father?"

"Who is this?" John growled. He didn't like what it could mean that someone else was in possession of his son's phone.

At that Dean's head snapped up. He wondered how screwed up it was that his first assumption was that Sam had been kidnapped. He watched his Dad intently to find out if that was what was going on.

"My name is Zack. I'm a friend of Sam's. He's in the hospital," Zack said in a rush. All of a sudden, he was nervous. There was something menacing about the voice on the other end of the phone.

"What happened? Is he alright?" John asked. Dean was getting more and more nervous by the minute, but he knew better than to interrupt with questions.

"I don't know. I guess he's in a coma," Zack answered.

"You guess?" John asked sharply.

On the other end, Zack cringed. He could see why Sam didn't talk about his family. "Look, the doctor said if he had family, we might want to find them soon. He's at Palo Alto General Hospital," Zack said and hung up. He had done what he promised Jessica, but he was not going to prolong his conversation with that man.

John hung up in frustration. "What's going on?" Dean asked anxiously.

"Sammy's in the hospital. Let's go," John said. He ran out the door without grabbing any of their stuff. Dean followed quickly. When they got to the parking lot, Dean headed for the Impala.

"No, Dean. Let's just take the truck," John said. He didn't want Dean driving while he was worried about Sam. Plus they would have to come back for their stuff anyway so there was no sense in taking two vehicles.

John drove in silence for a few minutes. Dean was waiting impatiently for his father to tell him what was going on, but when no information was forthcoming he decided to ask. "What happened?"

"I don't know. Some idiot friend of Sam's called and said he was in the hospital," John answered.

"And?"

"He doesn't seem to know much. He said Sam was in a coma."

"Was he in an accident?" Dean asked, frustrated by the lack of information that was trickling from his father.

"I don't know," John said. Maybe if he hadn't have been so sharp with that kid, he would know more.

"Is he going to be OK?" Dean asked.

"I don't know!" John yelled. He was not going to tell Dean what the doctor had said about finding family soon.

Dean knew that tone of voice and kept quiet the rest of the way.


	2. Meet the Parents

Jessica had slept all night in the chair next to Sam. When she woke up, the first thing she did was check to see if Sam was awake. He wasn't. "Hey," she heard from the door.

She looked up to see Becca. "How is he?"

"No change," Jessica admitted softly.

"Want some coffee? Something to eat?" Becca asked.

"Just coffee. Thanks," Jess said.

"OK," Rebbecca said, deciding she would get her a bagel or something whether she wanted it or not.

"Sam, wake up," Jessica whispered once Rebecca had left. "I need you to wake up." She started crying, hating herself for it.

"Is his doctor around?" Jessica looked up at the gruff voice and saw two men standing in the doorway.

"Who are you?" she asked.

John was about to answer, but Dean cut him off. This girl was obviously Sam's girlfriend, obviously upset and didn't really need the John Winchester treatment right now. "I'm Sam's brother, Dean, and this is our dad."

"I'm Jessica. I don't know where his doctor is." She hadn't seen much of him since yesterday. Probably not much point in spending a lot of time with a patient you can't diagnose and don't know how to help. She felt fresh tears form and was determined to keep them at bay.

"I'm going to find him," John said and stormed off.

Dean entered the room. "Can I sit with you?" he asked. He really kind of wanted to be alone with Sam, but he had only talked to him once in the last four years, and figured he had no right to usurp his girlfriend.

Jessica nodded. "So, you're the famous Dean? Or maybe I should say famous."

"He talks about me?" Dean asked, pleased to find out that Sam still thought about him once in a while. He thought about Sam all the time. He missed him so much. "So, what happened?"

"I don't know. He just wouldn't wake up yesterday morning."

"Not exactly normal for a 22 year old," Dean pointed out.

"I know. But I don't know what caused it."

"Well, I know he wasn't doing drugs, and I doubt he drank himself into a coma," Dean thought out loud.

Just then, John came back. "Stupid doctor doesn't know anything. What's Sam been doing lately? Anything out of the ordinary?"

Jessica was taken aback. This man was so different from Sam. Sam was quiet and gentle and this man was anything but. She knew Sam's mother had died when he was a baby, but she figured he must be more like her.

"Well?" John demanded when Jessica didn't immediately answer.

"Dad," Dean admonished. He wanted to find out what happened to Sam, too, but he had a feeling browbeating Jessica was not the way to do it.

"About a month ago he joined a sleep study, but he quit last week," Jessica answered.

"And you didn't think that was important?" Dean burst out, despite himself.

"Here's your coffee and a bagel," Rebecca said as she came back. "Oh, visitors," she added lamely.

"This is Sam's brother and father," Jessica said, reaching for the proffered items.

"OK. I'll leave you alone now," Becca said and left, glad that Sam's family had made it there. It looked like an awkward moment, though, so she wanted to get out quick.

"Tell us about this sleep study," John said.

"It was run by Dr. Wilson. It was more of a dream study than a sleep study. Sam was having nightmares, so he signed up. This study was supposed to help him control his dreams."

"What kind of nightmares?" Dean asked, concerned. They might have bigger problems, but Dean had never liked it when Sammy had nightmares. When they were kids, he would wake up screaming and be disturbed for hours.

"He wouldn't talk about them," Jessica said. She had tried to get him to. They were obviously very disturbing, but he had refused to discuss them.

"Why did he quit the study?" John asked, stealing a look at Sam. Sometimes after a hunt, he used to come home and just watch the boys sleep. It brought him peace. Now, it was only bringing him pain. If Sam never woke up, the last thing he will have said to him was "If you leave, don't come back." How will he be able to live with himself? He promised himself that he would make up with Sam the second he woke up. And he would wake up.

"He signed a non-disclosure agreement before he started the study. He wasn't allowed to tell me about it," Jessica said.

Dean sighed in frustration. This had to be connected somehow. "Do you know of anybody else who was in the study?"

"Jeremy Hart," Jessica answered.

"Thanks," John said and nodded to Dean to indicate that he wanted to talk with him outside.

"We'll be back later," Dean said. It was unclear whether he was telling Jessica or Sam.

When they were out in the hall, Dean said, "Dad, what if he doesn't…"

"He will," John interrupted. "You go talk to this Jeremy kid and I'm going to check out the doctor."


	3. Dreamwalking

John walked into the doctor's office. "I'm looking for Dr. Wilson," he told the woman.

"I'm sorry, I'm afraid he died," she said as she continued her work of boxing things up.

"Died? How?" John asked.

"He just went to sleep and never woke up," she answered.

John froze. That was what was happening to Sammy. If the doctor died that might mean Sam would, too.

"How long was he in a coma?" John asked.

"Oh, he just went to bed one night and was dead by morning."

Sam had already been asleep for more than a day. Why wasn't he dead yet? They probably didn't have much time. John told himself to calm down and not panic. Sam needed his focus.

"If you'll excuse me," the woman said.

"Of course," John said and pretended to trip as he was leaving. He took the opportunity to snag one of the files out of the boxes and hid it under his shirt.

SSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS

Dean knocked on the dorm room door. It was opened by a kid about Sam's age.

"Are you Jeremy Hart?" Dean asked.

"Yeah," he answered warily.

"I'm Dean Winchester, Sam's brother," Dean decided to go the honest route for once.

"Come in," Jeremy said and stepped back to allow Dean to enter.

"Did you hear about Sam?" Dean asked.

"Yeah. Is there anything I can do?"

"Actually, I have some questions about that dream study you two were involved in," Dean said.

"Sure," Jeremy answered. "Would you like a beer?" he asked as he pulled one out of the fridge for himself.

"Thanks," Dean accepted. "Why were you involved in the study?"

"I signed a non-disclosure agreement, so don't repeat any of this," Jeremy started.

"Of course not," Dean agreed.

"I got hit in the head when I was a kid and I couldn't dream. So, Dr. Wilson gave me this tea to drink and I had the most vivid dreams, kind of like an acid trip. It scared me so I dropped out."

"Do you know if that's why Sam dropped out?"

"Sam said his nightmares just kept getting worse. More vivid. More real. He was hardly getting any sleep at all. He had to drop out of the study or he was afraid he'd flunk out of school."

"That would be the day," Dean said.

"I hope Sam wakes up soon," Jeremy said as Dean headed to the door.

"Thanks. Me, too."

"You still here, Jessica?" John asked when he walked into Sam's room.

Jessica looked up. Sam's father made her nervous for some reason. "Yes. I haven't left since they brought him in."

"You should go home, get some rest and a shower," John said gently.

Jessica hesitated.

"It's alright. I'll stay with him and call you if anything happens."

"Thanks. I would like a shower," Jessica admitted. She gave him a small smile as she left.

A few moments later Dean came in. "How's he doing?"

"The same," John said. "What did you find out?"

"Not much, except Sam and this other guy, Jeremy, dropped out of the study because their dreams were becoming too intense."

"I think I know why. I snagged one of the doctor's files and found out he was dosing the volunteers with African Dream Root," John explained.

"What's that?" Dean asked.

"It's an herb and you can use it to control your own dreams…or other people's."

"Let's go have a talk with this doctor," Dean said.

"Can't he's dead."

"How?" Dean asked, afraid of the answer.

"He went to sleep and never woke up," John said.

"Just like Sam?" Dean asked, sneaking a peak at his brother. He looked so helpless lying there.

"Yeah. I called Bobby and he's going to bring us some of this African Dream Root stuff. If we can get inside Sam's head, maybe we can help him. He said he'd fly down and he'll be here in about an hour."

"Great," Dean said. He hoped Sam didn't die before Bobby got there, but couldn't bring himself to voice that thought out loud. Instead he asked, "Where's Jessica?"

"I sent her home for a shower and rest," John said.

"Good. I like her. How about you?" Dean asked.

"She seems nice enough," John conceded. He thought Sammy should be hunting with him and Dean, though, not living a so-called normal life. There were bad things out there that needed killing and not nearly enough people doing the killing.

They fell into a companionable silence as they just sat and watched Sam sleep, both caught up in their separate memories of him.

SSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS

About an hour later, Jessica was back. "Has there been any change?" she whispered. She didn't know why she insisted on whispering, like she was afraid to wake Sam up. She wanted Sam to wake up. It was crazy. It was just what you did around sleeping people.

"No," John said. "We have to leave now. We're going to consult a specialist."

"Do you think he can help?" Jessica asked, afraid to be hopeful.

"Not sure, but we have to try," John said. "Stay here and keep him company, OK?"

"OK."

John and Dean headed out to the parking lot and bumped into Bobby. "Thought you were going to meet us as the hotel," John said.

"I just came from there. You weren't there, so I figured you'd be here."

"I wanted to wait for Sam's girlfriend to come back. Don't like leaving him alone," John said.

Bobby just nodded. "I got the stuff you wanted. You guys have any idea who your dreamwalker is? Bobby asked as they all piled into John's truck.

"No. Does it make a difference?"

"Not really, but I should stay awake and guard you two to make sure he doesn't come after you if he knows what you're up to," Bobby suggested.

"OK," John agreed as he pulled into the hotel parking lot. They all headed up to the room that Bobby had registered for when he was there earlier. He set to boiling the water for the tea.

"Did you bring some of Sam's hair?" he asked John.

"What for?" Dean asked.

"Yeah, I got it," John said. "It's how you control whose dream you're in, Dean."

"So, we have to drink Sam's hair?" Dean asked and wrinkled his nose a bit.

"Could be worse," John said.

Dean shuddered as he thought on that. "You're right."

They put some of Sam's hair in each of their glasses and drank. They immediately fell back on the bed asleep.


	4. Nightmares

John and Dean sat bolt upright when they heard yelling. "What is that?" Dean asked.

"Sam's nightmare. Where are we?" John asked

Dean looked around. "This is the house we were staying in the night Sam left for Stanford."

They got up and went into the other room, where the shouting was coming from.

"It's your fault your mother died. You owe us and if you leave I'll kill you," another John was saying when they walked into the next room. There was no sight of Sam, but the other John was pounding on a closet door as he was yelling.

"Great, how are we going to get to him?" Dean asked.

"Go attack him," John said, indicating the him pounding on the closet door.

"Why me?" Dean asked. He didn't want to attack his Dad, even if it wasn't really him.

"Because if I go up against him and get in trouble, you won't know which of us is which," John pointed out.

"OK," Dean said and ran up and tackled the other John from behind. As they tussled, the real John approached the closet and knocked on it.

"Sam?" he said.

"What's going on? Who's fighting?" Sam asked. He was afraid to open the door. His father had showed up out of nowhere yesterday and had been taunting and attacking him ever since.

"Sam, you need to come out and talk to me," John shouted over the din of the fight going on behind him.

Sam knew this was a trick of some kind. You didn't go from so angry to caring in a blink of an eye like that. "Just leave me alone. Please," he begged.

"Sam, the last couple days haven't been real. You're dreaming. You need to come out and talk to me," John cajoled.

Dean landed a good hit to the fake John and he disappeared. He came and joined John by the door. "Come on, Sammy. Come out," Dean called in.

"Dean?" Sam asked. When had he gotten here.

"Yeah, Sammy, it's me. Will you please come out?"

"I can't. Dad wants to kill me," Sam whined.

"No, I don't," John said.

"Yes, you do," Sam argued.

"Look, Sam, I promise I won't let him kill you," Dean said with a glare to his dad when it looked like he was going to continue to argue.

Sam carefully opened the door, but just looked at John without coming out.

"Why don't you back up a bit, Dad?" Dean asked and John did it.

Sam stepped tentatively out of the closet. "This is a dream," Dean said.

"What are you guys doing here?" Jeremy asked as he suddenly appeared behind them.

"Jeremy?" Sam asked.

"Sam, wake up now. That's an order," John said.

Sam focused on his father and woke up. He sat upright in bed.

"Sam?" Jessica asked.

Sam grabbed her in a hug.

Dean and John woke in the hotel room at the same moment. "How did it go?" Bobby asked.

"I think he woke up. Let's go check," John answered. "And we know who is behind it."

SSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS

Dean, John, and Bobby entered Sam's room as the doctor was finishing up his exam . "How is he, Doc?" Dean asked.

Jessica was nervously standing by. If Sam could just fall asleep and not wake up for 3 days, it could happen again.

"As far as I can tell he's fine. But, then again, I don't know what happened in the first place," the doctor admitted. He updated Sam's chart and told him he could check out whenever he was ready. If it was up to him, he would keep him a few days to run some more tests to make sure he didn't end up here again, but hospital policy forbade such an action.

"Jessica, can we have a few minutes?" Dean asked.

"Sure. I'll go get some in the cafeteria. Can I bring you anything back, Sam?"

"No, thanks."

"I'll be back in a half hour," she promised, and left.

"Sam, you know that that's not how I really feel, right?" John asked. "You know I don't think you're responsible for your mother's death?"

Sam just shrugged and turned away.

"Sam, I love you, and I don't blame you for anything," John said.

"The dream study you entered, was that the nightmare you were having before that?" Dean asked.

"No," Sam answered, but didn't elaborate.

"Well, what was it?" John asked.

"I kept seeing Jessica burn up on the ceiling."

"Like your mother?" John asked.

Sam nodded.

"Why would you dream that?" Dean asked.

"I don't know. Does it matter?" Sam asked. He didn't want to think about it. Whenever he closed his eyes, he could hear Jess's screams and smell her flesh burning. The dream was always so vivid.

"I guess not. What do you know about that Jeremy kid?" Dean asked.

"Right after I dropped out of the study, the doctor cut Jeremy out. I don't really know why," Sam said.

"How did he get in your dream anyway? Wouldn't he need your hair or DNA or something?" John asked.

"Yeah. He invited me back to his place after the doctor died and offered me a beer. He must have got my DNA from that."

"Uh oh," Dean said.

"Dean, you didn't," his father admonished.

"I was thirsty," Dean said, lamely.

"We'd better find him and fast," Bobby said.

"Hey." They all turned to see Jessica in the doorway. "Ready to get out of here?"

"Yeah," Sam said.

Dean, Bobby, and John left Sam in Jessica's hands and went off to find Jeremy, before he could disrupt Sam's sleep again, or Dean's.

SSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS

Sam and Jessica walked into their apartment. "So, are you feeling OK?" Jessica asked worriedly.

"Yeah, I'm fine," Sam reassured her.

"So, what was it like seeing your family after all this time? You never did tell me what you fought about when you left."

"I don't know. We didn't really talk for that long. I've been asleep for most of their visit."

"They should have come back here. Where did they go? Did they leave?" Jessica asked, disappointed to think that she might not get to know Sam's family better.

"No. They just had something they had to do. They'll be back," Sam said, although he realized he wasn't sure about that. They could just take care of Jeremy and split. He wondered if they were going to kill Jeremy. He didn't think so, as they didn't kill people, but he didn't know how else they would stop him.

SSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS

Bobby, John, and Dean went to find Jeremy at his dorm room, but he had cleared out.

"Now what?" Bobby asked.

"I'll go to sleep, lure him to my dream," Dean said.

"That's crazy," Bobby said.

"I'll drink some more African Dream Root and go with him," John said. "It's probably the only way we'll find him. You can keep watch in case he comes back."

"This is the stupidest plan I've heard of," Bobby grumbled as he fixed the tea for John.

When it was ready, John plucked some hair from Dean's head.

"Ouch," Dean whined and John chuckled.

Dean laid down and fell asleep moments later. They had been trained to fall asleep and stay awake at will, because they never knew when they would have a chance to sleep. Once Dean was asleep John drank the concoction of tea and Dean's hair and joined him in his dream.


	5. Psychological Warfare

Dean "woke up" in Jeremy's apartment. His dad and Bobby were gone. The door opened and Jeremy walked in.

"I'm here to bring you your worst nightmare," Jeremy said.

"Bring it on," Dean said cockily.

Jeremy snapped his fingers and Sam appeared next to him. "Sam fell asleep. Because I have his DNA and yours, I can bring him into your dream."

"Sam, you were supposed to stay awake until we found Jeremy," Dean said.

"Sorry, Dean," Sam said and looked down at his feet.

Jeremy produced a baseball bat and hit Sam with it.

"Leave him alone," Dean growled.

"I'm just getting started. This is your worst nightmare. Watching Sam get hurt and there's nothing you can do about it," Jeremy taunted.

"Who says there's nothing I can do?" Dean asked. He lunged towards Jeremy, but found himself frozen in place.

"You know how dreams are Dean? Sometimes you try to move and you can't. This is one of those dreams." He swung the bat towards Sam again, this time connecting with his head.

SSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS

When John entered Dean's dream, he was alone. He hadn't counted on having to find Dean. He had assumed he would be with him. He was outside Jeremy's building, though and figured Dean might still be in his apartment. He headed up.

When he was close to the door, he heard a yell that sounded an awful lot like Sam. That threw him for a minute as he was expecting to find Dean. However, he figured in Dean's head, Sam was probably pretty much wherever Dean was. He ran towards the room.

When he ran in he saw a guy that he assumed was Jeremy, hitting Sam with a baseball bat and Dean screaming at him to stop.

"That's enough," John said in his best authoritative voice.

"You can't do anything about it," Jeremy said. "I'm a god in here."

"Because of the Dream Root?" John asked.

"That's right," Jeremy confirmed.

"You're forgetting I took it, too," John said. He produced a gun and shot Jeremy. Dean and John woke up in front of Bobby.

"You get him?" Bobby asked.

"Yeah, but we need to check on Sam," Dean said. "He fell asleep and Jeremy pulled him in the dream with him."

The three of them ran out to the car and sped off towards Sam's apartment. They ran up the stairs and Dean knocked on the door.

"Sam, are you OK?" Dean asked when he opened the door.

"Yeah, why?" Sam asked.

"Jeremy pulled you into my dream and was beating you. Don't you remember? Why did you fall asleep?"

"I haven't been asleep. Do you think I'm a moron?"

"Jeremy must have produced a figment of imagination Sam from your head," John concluded.

"Who is it, Sam?" Jessica asked.

"My family," Sam said, realizing that they were having this conversation half in the hallway. "Want to come in?"

"How about we go for coffee?" John asked, indicating that he wanted to talk to Sam in private.

"Would you mind if I left for a while, Jess?" Sam asked.

"No, that's fine. I have a lot of work to catch up on."

Sam groaned as he realized he did too. Oh well, tomorrow would be soon enough. He was in a coma for 3 days, his professors would probably be a little lenient.

They left and headed to a little coffee shop around the corner.

"Sam, I want you to come back home," John said.

"What do you mean?" Sam asked, confused. They didn't have a home, but maybe his dad just meant that he wasn't cut off from the family anymore.

"It's time for you to forget this college foolishness and start hunting again. You had your vacation. It's time to get back to work."

"Dad," Dean said warningly.

Bobby shifted uncomfortably. He probably shouldn't be here for this.

"No, I'm serious. Look at what happened to you on your own. You'll be better off with us."

"I'm going home," Sam said and stood up. Some things would never change. He walked out.

"Nice, Dad," Dean said. "Don't you remember how you felt when we thought Sam might die?"

"Yes, Dean. That's why I want him back with us."

"But he's not going to come back. All you're doing is pushing him further away," Dean protested.

"Dean's right," Bobby piped in.

"Let's catch up to him," Dean pleaded.

"No. I told him if he left to not come back. I was willing to give him a second chance, but he turned it down. We're leaving," John stated in no uncertain terms.

Dean and Bobby exchanged a glance and shook their heads. John and Sam were both so stubborn that there would never be any reconciling of the two of them that lasted more than five minutes. They hurried to follow John back to Sam's where they had left the car.

SSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS

"Jess?" Sam called out when he got home. He thought he could hear the shower running. He went and laid down on the bed. He couldn't believe how tired he was when he had spent so long sleeping. But then again it wasn't exactly a restful sleep. He closed his eyes as he sank down. He felt something drip on his face. He brushed it away. He felt it again and opened his eyes. "NO!" he screamed as he saw Jessica on the ceiling, her stomach slashed and bleeding. Then she burst into flame.

SSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS

"I'm going to say good-bye," Dean said defiantly. He would not allow his father to define how he left things with Sam. Not this time. He walked up the stairs wondering if his Dad would just take off and leave him. Oh well, he'd find a way back to the Impala somehow.

"No, Jess!" Dean heard as he approached Sam's room. Dean kicked down the door.

"Sam!" he yelled. He saw the flames coming from the bedroom and ran to the door. He saw Sam laying on the bed looking up towards fire. He looked up and momentarily froze as he saw Jessica burning up, pinned to the ceiling. He ran to Sam and pulled him up. "Come on we gotta get out of here."

Sam fought against him. "We have to save her," he protested.

"It's too late," Dean said. This was bringing back all the memories from when he was four. The white hot heat, the smell of burning flesh. The panic, only this time it was Sam and not his father.

"No," Sam protested again.

Dean pushed against him, forcing him from the room. He pulled him out into the hallway, and gently pulled him down the stairs. Slowly, Sam stopped fighting him. Dean paused to pull the fire alarm next to the door on the way out.

John looked up at the sound of the fire alarm and saw Dean pulling Sam out of the building. Sam looked like he was OK, but he was huddled against Dean and Dean was supporting him. John and Bobby ran over to them. "What happened?" John asked.

"Jessica was burning on the ceiling," Dean whispered, not wanting to be overheard by those beginning to come out of the building.

"Sam, I'm so sorry," John said. "I would have done anything to have spared you this." He knew exactly what Sam was feeling. He wondered what it meant that Sam's girlfriend had died exactly the same way as his mother. Was this all really about Sam somehow?

"Well, you got what you wanted," Sam said angrily. "I guess I'm back in now."

"Sam, I never wanted this," John reassured him. It was too bad about the girl, he thought, but Sam was right. He had gotten what he wanted.

The End.


End file.
